Thailand by Bicycle

Mae Hong Son to Mae Sariang (160 Km / 2 days)

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:32:00 +0700

[ Tommy typing ] I took it pretty mellow on the last few days in the mountains. The bike is still...

Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son (I have no idea what two days these are) 160 Km by bicycle

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:09:00 +0700

[ Tommy typing ] I started out of Chiang Mai for what would be my most strenuous day of riding in...

The ruins of Sukhothai

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:34:51 +0700

The ruins of Sukhothai

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:25:30 +0700

The ruins of Sukhothai

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:16:10 +0700

The ruins of Sukhothai

Giant reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Bangkok

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:14:06 +0700

Giant reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, Bangkok

Unloading bikes on Kho Tao in the morning from the overnight...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:09:22 +0700

Unloading bikes on Kho Tao in the morning from the overnight ferry

Sunrise over Koh Tao, taken in the morning from the overnight...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:02:26 +0700

Sunrise over Koh Tao, taken in the morning from the overnight ferry

The island of Kho Tao

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:59:22 +0700

The island of Kho Tao

Old photo of sally on the diveboat, Kho Tao

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:41:36 +0700

Old photo of sally on the diveboat, Kho Tao

Shown here: Phitsanulok to Sukhothai Tommy mentioned wanting a...

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:37:58 +0700

Shown here: Phitsanulok to Sukhothai

Tommy mentioned wanting a map on his last post. I tried to figure out how to embed a Google Map here using Tumblr, but couldn’t get it to work, so here’s a screencap of a gMap linking through to the full version.

Days 27-28 Phitsanulok to the ruins of Sukhothai and back (150km)

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:06:00 +0700

[ Tommy typing ] While I thouroughly enjoyed the hustle of Bangkok, after five days in the chaos I...

Here is a photo my friend Pop took from our dinner cruise on the...

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:24:20 +0700

Here is a photo my friend Pop took from our dinner cruise on the river in Bangkok when she and Aoy took us all out for dinner.

Day 26 ( I think) Train to Phitsanulok

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:15:00 +0700

[ Tommy typing ] I bungeed my bike in the back of a tuk-tuk this morning and we traversed the...

Bangkok, a part of you is still with me

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:28:21 +0700

Wait — I mean, it’s like there’s a little bit of you within me. Nope, still...

Days 21-25 (what day is it?) Around Bangkok

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:57:00 +0700

[ Tommy typing ] Dear Friends and Family, Thank you all for your concern about my making it to...

[ Sally typing ] Just one more time with those crummy...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:27:00 +0700

[ Sally typing ]

Just one more time with those crummy buildings!

I love this block, I love these buildings. A lot of the folks in my family like looking at old fancy buildings and houses that are nice and pretty — life-sized dollhouses. I, on the other hand, like stuff that looks crummy. I like the stains and textures, the visual discord. I like the evidence of usage, the clothes hanging out to dry. I like that everything looks to have been soaked in tea (or bus exhaust) for weeks, months, years. Somehow it seems more real to me, more human, and it’s the perfect contrast to the shiny shopping malls down the street, or the sleek iPhone that I took the shot with.

This shot was taken just down the street from the hotel where Tommy and I stayed, on Th Ratchaprarop…or Rajaprarop. There’s no standardization with the romanized spellings of Thai words. So on top of the endless map/signage errors and inconsistencies that we found along the way, the liquidity of spelling added a bonus challenge to countryside (BFE) navigation.

[ Sally typing ] Someone revoke my photo-stitch access! If this...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:09:00 +0700

[ Sally typing ]

Someone revoke my photo-stitch access!

If this photo looks a little funky it’s because it’s 5 photos that were taken with an iPhone, and later stitched together so the colors are strange.

But check out what an awesome image, and in my mind a perfect representation of Bangkok. Here you have Baiyoke Tower II springing out of some crummy residential buildings. The incongruities in Bangkok never cease, and never cease to fascinate me.

Baiyoke Tower II is the tallest building in Thailand and I think the second tallest (at the time of this writing) in South-East Asia. On my first day alone in the city (while Tommy was at his conference) I attempted to find Baiyoke’s rooftop bar to check out the 360 panoramic view of the burgeoning city below. Navigating the city’s streets in the midst of the daytime street vendor explosion can be really difficult. At times, your view of the skyline and the streets is completely blocked by the vendors temporary tarp walls.

I entered an entrance to “Baiyoke Tower” but was confused and disappointed when the elevator to Thailand’s tallest building topped off at the 8th floor. Maybe I was in Baiyoke Tower I not II? Or maybe I was stuck in a little offshoot of Baiyoke II that doesn’t extend the entire height of the hotel? Well, I was too tired and hungry to make a second attempt that day. Later, Tommy, Dirk, and I made it up to the top of Baiyoke and checked out the 360 rotating deck at floor 84.

[ Sally typing ] Bike box on the tuk tuk. I know this is a...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:49:00 +0700

[ Sally typing ]

Bike box on the tuk tuk.

I know this is a really weird image — it’s 3 photos spliced together kind of crappily — but I really wanted to show how hilarious cramming a giant bike box onto a tuk tuk was.

The airlines require using a box like this to take your bicycle on a plane. Tommy & I weren’t sure how easy it would be to find a bike box in Bangkok (or at least how easy it would be to communicate our need for a one using only pantomime and 2 year old baby talk Thai). So we unpacked our bikes in Phuket, then shipped the bike boxes with extra stuff we wouldn’t need inside via DHL. My box went to Bangkok for pickup and Tommy’s to Chiang Mai.

Picking up the bicycle box in Bangkok’s DHL and transporting it back to the hotel was my final task of questionable feasibility during hair-brained adventure, at least for me, I’m sure Tommy has more excitement ahead.

I was shocked and amazed that this thing fit on a tiny, 3-wheeled tuk tuk! Here’s a shot of a tuk tuk from the outside for reference, used without permission:

[ Sally typing ] Riders on this canal boat (imagine a bus on...

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:39:00 +0700

[ Sally typing ]

Riders on this canal boat (imagine a bus on water) have the option to tug the cord and pull the tarp up to avoid getting splashed.

The canal water is a milky, mustard-colored substance that smells of sulfur, and was one of the many images that flashed through my head as I tried to determine the source of my future intestinal upset.